Caravan of police officers delivers gifts to ill boy in Virginia

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After a fleet of more than 250 police officers caravanned 700 miles from Burlington, Mass., to Lynchburg, Va., they were told they might not be able to complete their Christmas mission.

The convoy of cruisers, which stretched for 3 miles, went to Lynchburg bearing gifts for 5-year-old Nathan ­Norman, who suffers from a rare form of brain and spinal cord cancer. The boy had asked for cards from his heroes, police and firefighters, and 80 agencies were happy to grant his wish.

But Nathan was strong enough to leave his home Thursday morning, and the ­officers met the boy and his family. “It was definitely a collective sigh of relief that he was well enough to be out there with us,” Whittemore said.

The officers lined up in squads on a hill outside Liberty University in Lynchburg.

“You could just see them lined up in formation,” Nathan’s mother, Dawn Norman, said from her Rustburg home. “I can’t even tell you how awesome it was.”

Nathan and his three siblings — Sarah, 9, Matthew, 7, and Tabitha, 3 — called the officers to attention and then put them at ease, she said.

But Nathan had one more request, his mother said. He used a loudspeaker to command the officers to hop on one foot. “He’s got a great sense of humor, and he wasn’t shy at all,” Whittemore said.

The officers had come bearing plaques, patches, a motorcycle helmet, and a New ­England Patriots jersey with Nathan’s name on the back. Some departments granted him honorary sheriff status.

Wellesley police gave ­Nathan a miniature electric ­police cruiser that seats two and can go up to 5 miles per hour. The car has working lights and sirens, a minipolice radio, and bears the Wellesley police logo on the side, said Whittemore.

Nathan shook hands with all the officers and was excited by each gift.

Captain Ryan Zuidema of the Lynchburg Police Department also helped organize the effort. “As police officers, we unfortunately see a lot of bad things in our careers,” Zuidema said. “To be able to see a group of that many police officers in one place and to see Nathan’s reaction, that was absolutely ­incredible.”